Lily James drew attention at the Toronto International Film Festival on Tuesday as she attended the screening of Swiped, a Disney+ biopic in which she portrays Whitney Wolfe Herd. The film, which dramatizes Wolfe Herd’s rise from co-founding Tinder to launching Bumble, is set for release in the United States and the United Kingdom on Sept. 19.
Also at the festival, Emily Blunt and Dwayne Johnson continued to promote The Smashing Machine, a biographical sports drama directed by Benny Safdie that centers on mixed martial artist Mark Kerr. The Smashing Machine will be released Oct. 3.
James, 36, appeared on the red carpet in a black gown and spent time meeting fans, taking selfies and signing autographs. She posed with co-stars Ben Schnetzer and Jackson White at the event. Swiped follows Wolfe Herd’s campaign while working at Tinder and her subsequent founding of Bumble after encountering what the film portrays as misogynistic behavior on the app.
Blunt, 42, and Johnson, 53, promoted The Smashing Machine together at a press event in Toronto. Johnson plays Kerr and Blunt portrays his then-wife, Dawn. The film, based in part on John Hyams’s 2002 HBO documentary of the same name, depicts Kerr’s fighting career, his struggles with substance abuse, a 1999 hospitalization and a later stint in rehab, alongside the impact those events had on his marriage.
At the festival, Johnson, who has been widely known for his muscular build, appeared notably slimmer and wore a khaki green shirt; Blunt wore a strapless gold top and high-waist jeans. Johnson is reported to have used prosthetics and a wig to approximate Kerr’s appearance and has said he undertook the role because he was “really hungry” for something different in his career. He told The Hollywood Reporter, “There was just a voice inside of me, a little voice, that said, ‘Well, what if I could do more — I want to do more and what does that look like?’”
Johnson’s physical transformation has prompted attention on social media and speculation about how the weight loss was achieved. The actor has not confirmed details of his regimen. Kunal Makwana, founder of KMAK Fitness, told the Daily Mail that losing a substantial amount of weight, particularly for someone with a muscular frame, is typically the result of a tightly controlled calorie deficit combined with strict training and careful protein management. Makwana described the approach as one emphasizing weighed portions, lean proteins andMinimal processed foods to preserve muscle while reducing body fat.
The Smashing Machine’s narrative centers on Kerr’s peak years in mixed martial arts and the personal costs of his career. In the film, Dawn is portrayed wrestling with pain and the pressures of Kerr’s injuries, a storyline that includes her own resort to pain medication as a coping mechanism.
Both Swiped and The Smashing Machine used the Toronto festival as a platform to reach press and audiences ahead of their wide releases, showcasing biographical dramas that explore the personal consequences behind public success. Swiped arrives on streaming Sept. 19, and The Smashing Machine opens Oct. 3.